Tailoring the police response to people with mental illness to community characteristics in the USA

In recent years, law enforcement agencies across the USA have successfully developed programs to transform the police response to people who are in a state of mental health crisis. Many of these programs have required strong partnerships between such agencies and mental health teams as well as community members. In this paper, a description is given of the origins of these programs; the nature of the problems they seek to address; and their outcomes. Ten elements common to police‐based programs are highlighted and practical examples given of how communities have tailored these elements to fit unique community problems and characteristics.